Step stones to Christian growth
Greetings in the name of Jesus:
I use the term step stones in this teaching series because we need to take a step step focus on the message of Christ in our lives. For many Christians the method of delivery the good news of Christ has become more important than the message itself. Paul used the words"Christ did not send me to baptize, but the preach the gospel"this idea of preaching refers to the message of Christ and not to the form or the way that the messages delivered.
Many times it's hard to find any difference in a marathon fundraiser over a cause for this world, and the supposed to be delivery of the gospel of Christ. The reason for that is that many of the same methods are being used in our churches today that are used in any other secular form of fundraising. We must be careful to look closely at the method of preaching to make sure it does not overshadow the message that we are called to deliver. It is the message of Christ that is our key to salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to us all. It is a victory over sin through our acceptance and action taken upon our faith in Christ that brings us salvation. It is the grace shown to us through the love that God has for us by sending that perfect sacrifice for sin, and it is a way back into God's presence and into his kingdom if we truly love him in return for what he has done. That my friends is the message, but it is getting lost in the tremendous amount of posturing over things that have nothing to do with salvation
What is it that is getting in the way? You've heard me say this many different times, and you're right if you said it is us. The message is very simple. It is so simple that Christ said even a small child can understand, and yet in our worldly wisdom we give ourselves too much credit for understanding this message from God when we refuse to concentrate on the simple message of salvation. It is that message and what it does that is the most important thing before we jump into deeper things of spiritual growth. If we don't understand the simple things we will easily misinterpret the deeper things. When that happens we become like those who need to be taught once again the"milk of the word"just like Paul wrote about in first Corinthians anything deep will cause those who are not ready to get off track. It is too easy to assume that everyone we worship with knows those things that we may take for granted.
God chose the foolish things of this world to convey the message of salvation. He didn't choose the wisemen or the rich and powerful man, but the weak and the foolish man in the eyes of this world. Why? Because there should be no boasting in self but only in the power of the Spirit of God to speak the truth. Christ chose those who were not learned in Dr. or law, but common men to do very uncommon things through God's power in their lives. Paul did not want to see the faith of the people put in clever arguments but in God's power. In first Corinthians 2: 13 Paul writes about comparing spiritual things with spiritual things. This deals with bringing out spiritual truth to spiritual minds. He talks about the combining of spiritual truth with spiritual language. You see anyone who lives in the natural or in the world cannot understand the spiritual things. It is because they do not have the Spirit of God to teach them. We need that very important personal relationship with God's spirit in order to learn.
It isn't easy to think of ourselves as babies in Christ, but that is where we all must start. Just like our natural birth we must allow for growth. You will know growth in Christ when you see it, not by knowledge or by position, but by the fruit of the spirit borne by a life that has been turned over to God. We will be talking more about this perfection as time goes on because there are many different things that we tend to get stuck on in our spiritual growth, and one of them is and where we put the most emphasis when we try to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. May you richly bless God through your life in him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
I use the term step stones in this teaching series because we need to take a step step focus on the message of Christ in our lives. For many Christians the method of delivery the good news of Christ has become more important than the message itself. Paul used the words"Christ did not send me to baptize, but the preach the gospel"this idea of preaching refers to the message of Christ and not to the form or the way that the messages delivered.
Many times it's hard to find any difference in a marathon fundraiser over a cause for this world, and the supposed to be delivery of the gospel of Christ. The reason for that is that many of the same methods are being used in our churches today that are used in any other secular form of fundraising. We must be careful to look closely at the method of preaching to make sure it does not overshadow the message that we are called to deliver. It is the message of Christ that is our key to salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to us all. It is a victory over sin through our acceptance and action taken upon our faith in Christ that brings us salvation. It is the grace shown to us through the love that God has for us by sending that perfect sacrifice for sin, and it is a way back into God's presence and into his kingdom if we truly love him in return for what he has done. That my friends is the message, but it is getting lost in the tremendous amount of posturing over things that have nothing to do with salvation
What is it that is getting in the way? You've heard me say this many different times, and you're right if you said it is us. The message is very simple. It is so simple that Christ said even a small child can understand, and yet in our worldly wisdom we give ourselves too much credit for understanding this message from God when we refuse to concentrate on the simple message of salvation. It is that message and what it does that is the most important thing before we jump into deeper things of spiritual growth. If we don't understand the simple things we will easily misinterpret the deeper things. When that happens we become like those who need to be taught once again the"milk of the word"just like Paul wrote about in first Corinthians anything deep will cause those who are not ready to get off track. It is too easy to assume that everyone we worship with knows those things that we may take for granted.
God chose the foolish things of this world to convey the message of salvation. He didn't choose the wisemen or the rich and powerful man, but the weak and the foolish man in the eyes of this world. Why? Because there should be no boasting in self but only in the power of the Spirit of God to speak the truth. Christ chose those who were not learned in Dr. or law, but common men to do very uncommon things through God's power in their lives. Paul did not want to see the faith of the people put in clever arguments but in God's power. In first Corinthians 2: 13 Paul writes about comparing spiritual things with spiritual things. This deals with bringing out spiritual truth to spiritual minds. He talks about the combining of spiritual truth with spiritual language. You see anyone who lives in the natural or in the world cannot understand the spiritual things. It is because they do not have the Spirit of God to teach them. We need that very important personal relationship with God's spirit in order to learn.
It isn't easy to think of ourselves as babies in Christ, but that is where we all must start. Just like our natural birth we must allow for growth. You will know growth in Christ when you see it, not by knowledge or by position, but by the fruit of the spirit borne by a life that has been turned over to God. We will be talking more about this perfection as time goes on because there are many different things that we tend to get stuck on in our spiritual growth, and one of them is and where we put the most emphasis when we try to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. May you richly bless God through your life in him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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